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  1. ianorsven

    bright orange pollen going in today

    Crocus = Bright orange. Snowdrop = Dark orange/brown. Hellebore = Light grey. __________________ Thanks Swarm. All five hives acive yesterday (8C but sunny at times) - by that I mean bees flying in and out. A few bees taking in a pale grey/whitish pollen in which I will now assume was from...
  2. ianorsven

    Quick questions quick answers

    No crown board used on my poly hives. Thought of running a poly like this but worried about brace comb being built between top bars and roof causing the frames to get lifted when the roof comes off. Have you had this happen? Genuine question - not a critisism.
  3. ianorsven

    Good day today.

    Congatulations! Enjoy that feeling of success. (There will be times when you will have to think back and remenber it!) Good luck with the rest of your season.
  4. ianorsven

    Bees in a Cello!! what next?

    www.ukuni.net/uk-ranking/overall
  5. ianorsven

    Bees in a Cello!! what next?

    Having graduated from one and worked at the other, I find the insinuation to be ill informed and unnecessary.
  6. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Extracted last of the OSR/spring honey yesterday making a total of 180lb from my 2 main hives! This is best yeild I've had by this time of year (only 10yrs beekeeping). Good spring here but also different swarm control - nucleus removal rather than Pagden. Kept colonies strong whilst new queens...
  7. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Great day in the apiary. Gave a colony to a friend leaving me a managable two stong colonies. Have chosen swarm control by removal of nuc with Q this year - carried out on both colonies 2 and 3 weeks ago respectively. One colony now with laying queen, the other still waiting. Both nucs...
  8. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    First full inspections carried out. Rearranged some frames to provide space for laying, removed some frames full of stores and replaced with frames of drawn comb and transferred one colony from poly nuc to poly national. Two main colonies with 6-7 frames BIAS and bees on all frames. Some nectar...
  9. ianorsven

    Forum members - CAUTION!

    the lesson to be learned from this is to not use your credit card online And collapse the UK economy?
  10. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Checking things yesterday and found two hives and a nuc with lots of flying bees bringing loads of yellow pollen in and one hive with a few very lethargic bees. (Had been this way for a while). Decided to have a quick look in. About two seams of bees (at the most), a little drone brood on bottom...
  11. ianorsven

    Dilemma

    Read OP accurately. No mention of cost of queen, pedigree of queen or desire to keep queen. Asked for thoughts and gave them. Hope you solve your problem.
  12. ianorsven

    Dilemma

    Take to original apiary. Inspect. Find and destroy queen. Unite with good natured colony. Solves problems of a) aggressive bees near mother and passersby, b) growing number of hives. Good luck with whichever route you take.
  13. ianorsven

    varroa treatments .. a full list of the options

    Hope this link works. Good info and Table 4 P28 provides a summary http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=16
  14. ianorsven

    When and what to feed

    Once you have taken your summer honey it is a good time to asses the varroa levels in your hives and treat accordingly. You should make sure your colonies have enough stores during this period. Do you have any frames of stores in your brood boxes? If not, you can either leave the bees some of...
  15. ianorsven

    No queen

    t no brood or stores. At the very least, feed them. As enrico: be patient. There have been so many times when I have thought a colony had failed to raise a new queen only to find a week or so later egs and a laying queen. The frame you have added may help you in deciding the way forward; check...
  16. ianorsven

    Maqs

    I have used them in the past successfully, in that the mite drop was high and there was no loss of queens. The was however, an associated pause in queen's laying for a week or so. This summer I treated a hive with MAQS and after around 3-4 days found the queen in a bad way wandering around in...
  17. ianorsven

    Best time to unite colonies

    Had the same situation myself last year. Over-wintered four colonies successfully, sold two (cheap as chips to mentee), back to four again after successful ASs (Pagden). Will do the same this year. Makes more sense to me to keep options open for as long as possible - uniting now means fewer...
  18. ianorsven

    Aggression

    Rear some queens with a better temperament?
  19. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Went to check for EQCs after carrying out an artificial swarm (Pagden) and on entering the apiary spotted a big old hornet flying from one of my hives. First time in 8 years they've been around my bees as far as I know. Will keep an eye out now and hope to ID it (as European variety!).
  20. ianorsven

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Bees from all four hives flying and loads of pollen going in. Mild day (13C) so removed nadired supers/shallows from the 2 hives overwintered that way. Quick look in each hive showed 6-7 seams of bees and 3-4 frames of stores. (Autumn feeding had been supplemented by ivy nectar by the smell)...
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